PRE Young adult Literature is comprised of the stories that speak to adolescents through creating sense out of a world that is in flux. They are stories that confront issues relating to the passing from childhood to a time when one is becoming more responsible for the self, when physical changes are happening and the mind is awakening. Young adult literature serves as a companion, a springboard, it is a mitigating force for a population that is in the throes of uncertainty. The themes of young adult lit touch on core principles and emotions, change, love, empowerment, rebelling, and the hero's journey.
POST Young adult literature provides a real and contemporary framework for the world which the adolescent is experiencing. It engages the student in ways, settings, issues, and language that are familiar. YAL challenges the young adult to see the world and make sense of it while simultaneously being a companion to the confusion and uncertainties of this time. Rather than being the lesser sibling of the literary canon, it is in fact a pathway that can lead to a future appreciation of the more complex themes of adult literature.
The Tripods, The White Mountain, John Christopher
A book from my past dealing with a dystopian world were an alien civilization has enslaved the earth. In the first pages of the book we are introduced to Will Parker. He seems like any ordinary inquisitive youth who is taken with the forbidden. He wants to impress his friends. He comes from what seems a straight-forward family living in a quaint small village. Time is something key. Five clocks, one watch. His father owns the sole watch of the village and now he has gone and taken it. The era or world we are in is yet distinct but it feels ancient in some way. The village. The mill.
8/29
I do not feel like the reading in Bushman this week has changed my current definition of what YAL literature encompasses, however I do see the demarcations in tone that Lit for young adults has undergone through the centuries. YAL is now an experience of life rather than just a primer for good moralistic behavior. But though YAL has changed much over the centuries in regards to style isn't its central purpose in someway still the same definition? Has it not been in some shape or form to highlight the experiences of the young adult and how they are to deal with the increasingly difficult multi-dimensional world of the adult that is quickly approaching while tackling themes unique to their world. I know the subject matter has become less religious/moralistic in tone and the topics more risque relative to the time, and that we have moved from an adults perspective on behavior to a young adult voice but I feel at the heart the outcome is similar i.e. to make sense of the world we live in.
On another note, one concept that did stand out to me in regards to how I have always approached lit was the notion of adventure. Whether it is internal or external I have always been drawn to the idea of adventure but especially so when I was younger. Perhaps key to young adults is this notion of adventure, for it encompasses the freedom for which we have yet to fully realize when under the supervision and dependance of guardians, be it the exploration of our bodies, minds, or the world beyond.
Comment:I can identify with the pull of adventure, Jon. Reading YAL for me allowed me to visit other worlds and escape a dysfunctional family life growing up. It allowed me to experience other realities -- definitely an adventure, a much-needed one. Best, Dr. Y
9/4
Thoughts on myself as a reader and how that transposes to teaching.
Up until last year I had always been the reader who endured whatever lugubrious novel that was put before me or that I myself picked up. Whether this tendency emerged from some mixed up noble intent, self imposed penance, obligation to the author, or general stubbornness, well, I would have to refer you to my therapist and I doubt that even there a faithful explanation would be disseminated. Last year however I put down my first novel, Ship of Fools, by Potter. The characters in this story were interesting too a point, but the book was akin to its own early 20th Century trans-oceanic voyage: long, bobbing, full of gray, and a twisting, knotting digestive discomfort.
In light of the reading in Bushman, I can understand why many young adults eyes glaze over when reading the classics. Some language and experiences of the past have grown antiquated, difficult to digest in their language, or are just so distant that students need a bridge to arrive at them. What we want to do is stretch and develop that reading/comprehension muscle and utilize it to increase a students ability to think and reason and be able to express these concepts in their own words. It is only then that the student can approach the older texts, that are still important and filled with amazing language that should never be forgotten, with the necessary tools at their disposal and be able to appreciate these great works of literature. A person does not decide to be a runner and go out that day and tackle a marathon, Forest Gump excluded.
What Bushman didn't dive into and what I see as particularly important is pacing. The style section would have been a good place for this technique to land. Much like the opening hook that is so important with YA Lit, pacing properly is key to keeping the young adult in tune with the story. Young adults are filled with kinetic energy and to keep them focused is to keep them moving. Raising the stakes. Plot twists and turns throughout and not just at the ending.
Comment:An important consideration -- pacing! With this, I also think it is important to give students the necessary time to read in class and to discuss the reading in class as well.
On a final note, despite my finally putting a book down without finishing it I do subscribe to the notion that many stories take time to develop and that it might not be till act 2 or the mid-point when a story really gets moving. This may be more of a notion akin to adult stylized fiction but something important to note when teaching YA.
"Better to reign in Hell then serve in Heaven" Milton There are still some great lines in the old ones. :-)
9/5 I am doing a virtual journal for my YA postcard Literary Reviews
Comment:Please include a link here, Jon. You can set the Google doc to just be shared with me, but it will help if it is linked. Also, be sure you are tracking a list of the books you are completing -- you can use the handout I provided in class and/or post it here and/or integrate it into your journal. And, if you could move this to the top of your workpage, that would be great too. Thanks!
9/13
The response-centered classroom is a brilliant way to establish a personal connection and even accountability to the literature for students or maybe better put, an ownership of the work. From memory I know that some of my teachers in middle school and high school subscribed to a rudimentary version of this but still clung to the canon and regurgitation of information, whether due to administrative needs or their own familiarity with the works and teaching style I cannot be certain. In undergrad however I found this method often used, albeit with elevated analysis but still with the consideration of personal connections and means of discussion. What strikes me as well disappoints me is that in the High School I am CTing in they still cling to the demarcation of grade level topics. Sure they have added to the works and given the spectre of more approachable and relevant materials but they are at the fringes.
As a reader I always internalize a book first. How it makes me feel and what connections I feel or have to certain characters, only then do I move on to a more detailed or thoughtful analysis of the text as it concerns the wider social implications put forth. In that vein I see how approaching lit in this way is beneficial for the students and in developing their mind's eye as readers.
Comment:I hope the reading and our work with Reader Response gave you some ideas for how you might include various strategies in your teaching in general, but also for your internship this spring! Best, Dr. Y
9/16
It has been some time since I sat in one of those steel and ceramic posture annihilators, staring ahead, and wondered what it was that the adult standing up front really thought about the 20+ pairs of eyes staring back at her or him. Did they really believe in the B.S. they were feeding us? I remember thinking that I liked to read but this jargon, put before me and all the others, this was the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition, (thanks Mom for the horrifying images and potential punishments I may fall victim too, you're a good Catholic, or were) and how were we going to make any sense of this? From my foggy memory I can still say with certainty that most of it was rote memorization. Facts, dates, preset themes to be regurgitated. There were the occasional moments of pairing up but I do not recall them ever being very useful or enlightening, in fact they seemed more like paused time so the teacher(s) could take a break. I went to college as a psych major, and only due to the ironic insanity of the psych professors and the phenomenal and inclusive practices in thought and deep understanding of my Lit professors did I change and become enamoured with Literature and all that it could be. Armed with some of the techniques they instilled in me and now considering the methods put forth in both the Bushman and Nilsen chapters I feel especially invigorated. I love the idea of expanding the mind. Of invigorating the young to see Lit and Literacy as not a burden, what I often experienced, but more of an exploration. I love the idea of thematic units and feel a great desire to pushback against the rigid framing of school years at the secondary level, i.e. Amer lit, Brit lit. Sure I can work in those frameworks but so much more perspective can be garnered for students it all could be cross referenced year to year, scaffolding up the required skills and objectives. The world is not neatly divided up into A, B and C but rather a collective hodgepodge. I especially like the Bushman suggestion of creating a whole content unit where multiple disciplines work together to integrate the content together.
On a side note, though I don't remember a good deal of specifics about my time in high school as a student, aside from a few highlights, I am being pulled back into that general feeling of malaise as I observe the classes in High School this semester. I feel the distance of the students. My only hope is that during the spring I can apply some of the more invigorating practices I am learning about and find essential to making Literacy not the burden of life but the awakening of self.
It is difficult for me to remember back to what writing activities I was tasked to perform in grade school, but I do remember enough to say that little to none of the approaches in Bushman Ch 4 were used. What does stand out are book reports, where we were just regurgitating information for the sake of proving we had read the book and research papers. Hands on full immersion was not a thing in my school. That said, I distinctly remember a student teacher taking over my 10th grade English class and that she practiced some level of reader response with the story Grendel, by John Gardner. She also applied different strategies/styles of writing for assignments. One was a poem and the other a short story. It must say something that I remember this class but all the rest are a blur.
I like the ideas presented in Bushman Ch. 4 in regards to the more reading a student does with opportunity to respond the more their writing will improve. I'd like to work with the journal ideas as a response strategy but must admit I'm fearful in applying it effectively. How can I be sure that the students are following and administering to the task at hand without constantly collecting journals and slogging through one to two hundred entries. I'd also push back slightly on the whole novel then review approach. I'd rather engage with the students as they move through the reading. See where they are in the reading, what their takeaways are at different points and how they view the novel in light of unit objectives.
Prior to reading in Beers' chapter 8 I was fearful of the challenge of teaching ELL's. This fear was not rooted in a bias toward these children but my own insecurity in finding ways of connecting of feeling unprepared to take on this great responsibility. I was fearful of failing these children. After the reading I now find I have a way in to teaching ELL's. Aguilar, Fu, and Jago, present a number of great inclusive techniques to address ELL's as human beings first and students second. Getting to know your students, where they are from and how they view their experience of learning is tantamount. Giving them the comfort and support through allowing them to learn in their language while acquiring the skills they need to be better English language users is something I did not consider before reading this chapter. If they can understand the content intrinsically they have a leg up in transferring that knowledge to a new language. Another idea that struck me is the linguistic habits of any native speaker in any language that have been so ingrained they are unconscious. We should encourage ELL's to engage in trial and error in speaking and writing in English as a positive activity. It behooves us as teachers to take some time to understand some of the language rules or nuances of our ELL's. This process will better equip us with an understanding of the thought process of ELL students how language is shaped and delivered in their native tongue.
11/1 Chapter 10 Beers
It is not about the world we know as educators and adults, so much as it is about the world that our students know, and the inevitable new world which will great them as they reach adulthood. Considering Burke's text, I realize, more and more, that to stay relevant, and to keep students relevant, requires a deeper level of thinking about the whole picture scenario and what is coming down the technology, communication pike. Further, as educators it is incumbent upon us to embrace the instruction of interpersonal skills which our students will need in order to not just survive but thrive in the 21st century. Our students have been raised in a new world. A world in which they will be required in some capacity to deal with people of varying cultures and literacies with differing ideas and our students will need the knowledge base, the skillsets, to work within these ever transforming environments. Despite the oft heard, or shouted, proclamations of division, found daily on TV and or the web, among other places, the world is increasingly growing interconnected. In order for our students to get that leg up I see Friedman's Eight roles, and Burke's means of developing them, as the aha moment of our time, and we, as educators, too need to embrace this realistic future that is already here or we too will become obsolete. On one side note. I find the storyteller as explainer as maybe the most powerful of all the roles. The idea of the storyteller is the one of the eight that stretches back to the beginning of our sense of being and will progress through the future and to then end of our being. Bold statement, I'm aware, but it is, and has been storytelling that has always shaped our understanding of the world in which we live. Today we need more bold and honest storytellers, willing to tackle the complex and often distorted sense of ourselves within society. To pushback against weavers of distraction and deceit.
11/2 Exploding the page, Hundley & Holbrook
Hundley & Holbrook's chapter dives into the transformational landscapes of literacy that confronts ELA learners as well as teachers in the 21st century. For the authors, literacy is no longer simply ideas composed and framed on paper and bound between two covers, what they describe as the Gutenberg parenthesis era, but rather a multi-media experience of immersion that exits on multiple platforms that moves upwards and backwards between the platforms. Hundley and Holbrook describe this new approach, championed by young adults, as "blurring and bending" (253). The idea is that story has returned to its pre-printing press era form. Story is transforming back to a shared and adaptable experience where ownership is not exclusive to the author, and where cultural experiences can reshape works. The authors explain the various forms of this shaping of story in the 21st century as Multimedia - one story, many forms, one channel; Crossmedia - one story, many channels; and Transmedia - one storyworld, many stories many forms, many channels(258). The definitions blend at times, but the idea is that a story may begin in a book and move to an interactive internet search or app, then to a youtube video. Or, as in the example of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, the text began as a youtube video that encouraged interaction via social media. After much fanfare and excitement the platform became a novel and is now on its way to film(267-68). So, from video to social media, to print, i.e. book, to film, Sunshine girl bent the rules of a work of literature in its approach and interaction with its audience, or dare I say readers. There are many instances of games to books to films among many other instances of movement between inception and form. Considering the increase in the Young Adult audience of video games, YA authors have begun to adapt their works to reflect the literacies evident in gaming worlds. These authors have adopted an folded into their works the language of of video games as well as themes often evident in the virtual world. Another way they've stepped into this new world is in how they tell and frame their story. Often these novels will begin on the page, then prompt a jump to a virtual plane of the web, where the story continues, giving their audience deeper context and an interactivity not necessarily available to just readers of the printed text. Finally, there are growing numbers of fan-fiction sites, where readers may become part of the world they embrace. This interactivity blends the line between author and audience. A different type of immersion but more akin to the idea of the campfire story, where one teller builds upon the ideas of the other members of the circle.
Reflection.
I find these new platforms and opportunities to interact with literacy fascinating and positive factors in how we can transform and approach literacy engagement but I must laugh, because in some ways I do not find them at all new. Let me clarify. They are new in their packaging, the contextual landscape in how they are applied is new, but the are not new in their actual content or approach. For example, my friends and I, huge Pink Floyd fans, once embarked upon a creative endeavor, where we rewrote the lyrics to numerous albums, keeping the ideas in mind, but made the songs more akin to our own experiences. We also wrote sequels to albums. A form of fan fiction if you will. Now, our audience was not so wide, but the element was there. Also the idea of immersion and controlling the story, I already mentioned the campfire tradition, but there have been the Choose your own Adventure books. Or games, was not D&D a full immersion role playing game that became a serious of books to explore deeper.
I also would like to add my belief that we are often, in America, so obsessed with the new, that we scrub away the past our history, so important to getting us to this point, to the detriment of our culture and survival. In many other place in the world, though not all, they respect, preserve, and honor their past. Their history is part of a intrinsic national pride rather than cheap bumper sticker slogans. I too believe the authors oversimplified the importance of the page. Sure, Gutenberg's press made books more and more available over time but it didn't usher in the written page. It didn't steal the story from the oral tradition. Humanity has written and preserved its important ideas for almost as long as it has walked on two legs. The press just gave us a democratic means of accessing the information. That said, I do not think nor condone writing the obituary for the book, for there is something to be said for being able to analyze, synthesize and evaluate something that requires a deep immersion into a page and a mind.
11/14 Chapter 15 Beers
I do not remember there being any inquiry based units or lessons when I attended school. That said, we did have choice for research projects and were allowed to construct our own research focus. This was probably the closest I ever came to what Wilhelm and Smith describe as inquiry. Outside of the classroom, my friends and I would construct our own inquiry based projects that involved multi-media stories through music, poetry, story generation and art. These projects incorporated researched, real world events from newspapers, zines and documentaries as well as first hand reporting and immersion.
Takeaways.
I like the idea that Wilhelm and Smith propose about designing a unity around the essential question rather than the subscribed text.
Flow is a great noun/verb mashup. It brings this vivid idea to mind of getting lost in the moment.
I am not totally convinced about the position taken in the chapter and in many other readings this semester that reading difficult texts is for the birds. The chapter seems to almost diminish the importance that a complex text serves in understanding the human condition, and how through such texts we might learn to be better humans. How we learn to see those nuances of life. I understand that inquiry can lead a student to explore these types of behaviors and structures but is not something lost? To skip over The idea of colonialism and madness found in Heart of Darkness in lieu of a perhaps fine piece of investigative journalism seems a sad reality. Its the art and the craft that often drives home the meaning. But I digress.
I do like the framework and will look for ways to incorporate a more inquiry based structure to my classroom, but I will still anchor some important texts.
12/7 Final Takeaways Christenbury & Atwel
As I close this book, knowing I will return to it pages again and again, as I move into teaching, as well as what I have learned over these past few months, is that teaching is a journey. It is fluid endeavor that exists in both in real time and at the cusp of a shifting, growing thought. Christenbury, solidified this idea and reality, "becoming a teacher is a lifetime's work" (P.289) and that there is no set system or archetype teacher, but rather the dedication of a human to professional and intuitive instruction, that is encouraging and willing to overlook mistakes in the face of progress. As I face my future in education I am encouraged by these two voices and all the others i've had the honor of encountering, here and throughout life, Virgil's walking with us through every level of student/teacher experiences. Pointing out the landscape but allowing us, as I hope to encourage my students, to find the meaning, engage with their own constructions, and continue the endless journey.
Link YAL Journal
Definitions of YAL Lit
PRE Young adult Literature is comprised of the stories that speak to adolescents through creating sense out of a world that is in flux. They are stories that confront issues relating to the passing from childhood to a time when one is becoming more responsible for the self, when physical changes are happening and the mind is awakening. Young adult literature serves as a companion, a springboard, it is a mitigating force for a population that is in the throes of uncertainty. The themes of young adult lit touch on core principles and emotions, change, love, empowerment, rebelling, and the hero's journey.
POST Young adult literature provides a real and contemporary framework for the world which the adolescent is experiencing. It engages the student in ways, settings, issues, and language that are familiar. YAL challenges the young adult to see the world and make sense of it while simultaneously being a companion to the confusion and uncertainties of this time. Rather than being the lesser sibling of the literary canon, it is in fact a pathway that can lead to a future appreciation of the more complex themes of adult literature.
The Tripods, The White Mountain, John Christopher
A book from my past dealing with a dystopian world were an alien civilization has enslaved the earth. In the first pages of the book we are introduced to Will Parker. He seems like any ordinary inquisitive youth who is taken with the forbidden. He wants to impress his friends. He comes from what seems a straight-forward family living in a quaint small village. Time is something key. Five clocks, one watch. His father owns the sole watch of the village and now he has gone and taken it. The era or world we are in is yet distinct but it feels ancient in some way. The village. The mill.
8/29
I do not feel like the reading in Bushman this week has changed my current definition of what YAL literature encompasses, however I do see the demarcations in tone that Lit for young adults has undergone through the centuries. YAL is now an experience of life rather than just a primer for good moralistic behavior. But though YAL has changed much over the centuries in regards to style isn't its central purpose in someway still the same definition? Has it not been in some shape or form to highlight the experiences of the young adult and how they are to deal with the increasingly difficult multi-dimensional world of the adult that is quickly approaching while tackling themes unique to their world. I know the subject matter has become less religious/moralistic in tone and the topics more risque relative to the time, and that we have moved from an adults perspective on behavior to a young adult voice but I feel at the heart the outcome is similar i.e. to make sense of the world we live in.
On another note, one concept that did stand out to me in regards to how I have always approached lit was the notion of adventure. Whether it is internal or external I have always been drawn to the idea of adventure but especially so when I was younger. Perhaps key to young adults is this notion of adventure, for it encompasses the freedom for which we have yet to fully realize when under the supervision and dependance of guardians, be it the exploration of our bodies, minds, or the world beyond.
9/4
Thoughts on myself as a reader and how that transposes to teaching.
Up until last year I had always been the reader who endured whatever lugubrious novel that was put before me or that I myself picked up. Whether this tendency emerged from some mixed up noble intent, self imposed penance, obligation to the author, or general stubbornness, well, I would have to refer you to my therapist and I doubt that even there a faithful explanation would be disseminated. Last year however I put down my first novel, Ship of Fools, by Potter. The characters in this story were interesting too a point, but the book was akin to its own early 20th Century trans-oceanic voyage: long, bobbing, full of gray, and a twisting, knotting digestive discomfort.
In light of the reading in Bushman, I can understand why many young adults eyes glaze over when reading the classics. Some language and experiences of the past have grown antiquated, difficult to digest in their language, or are just so distant that students need a bridge to arrive at them. What we want to do is stretch and develop that reading/comprehension muscle and utilize it to increase a students ability to think and reason and be able to express these concepts in their own words. It is only then that the student can approach the older texts, that are still important and filled with amazing language that should never be forgotten, with the necessary tools at their disposal and be able to appreciate these great works of literature. A person does not decide to be a runner and go out that day and tackle a marathon, Forest Gump excluded.
What Bushman didn't dive into and what I see as particularly important is pacing. The style section would have been a good place for this technique to land. Much like the opening hook that is so important with YA Lit, pacing properly is key to keeping the young adult in tune with the story. Young adults are filled with kinetic energy and to keep them focused is to keep them moving. Raising the stakes. Plot twists and turns throughout and not just at the ending.
On a final note, despite my finally putting a book down without finishing it I do subscribe to the notion that many stories take time to develop and that it might not be till act 2 or the mid-point when a story really gets moving. This may be more of a notion akin to adult stylized fiction but something important to note when teaching YA.
"Better to reign in Hell then serve in Heaven" Milton There are still some great lines in the old ones. :-)
9/5
I am doing a virtual journal for my YA postcard Literary Reviews
9/13
The response-centered classroom is a brilliant way to establish a personal connection and even accountability to the literature for students or maybe better put, an ownership of the work. From memory I know that some of my teachers in middle school and high school subscribed to a rudimentary version of this but still clung to the canon and regurgitation of information, whether due to administrative needs or their own familiarity with the works and teaching style I cannot be certain. In undergrad however I found this method often used, albeit with elevated analysis but still with the consideration of personal connections and means of discussion. What strikes me as well disappoints me is that in the High School I am CTing in they still cling to the demarcation of grade level topics. Sure they have added to the works and given the spectre of more approachable and relevant materials but they are at the fringes.
As a reader I always internalize a book first. How it makes me feel and what connections I feel or have to certain characters, only then do I move on to a more detailed or thoughtful analysis of the text as it concerns the wider social implications put forth. In that vein I see how approaching lit in this way is beneficial for the students and in developing their mind's eye as readers.
- Comment: I hope the reading and our work with Reader Response gave you some ideas for how you might include various strategies in your teaching in general, but also for your internship this spring! Best, Dr. Y
9/16It has been some time since I sat in one of those steel and ceramic posture annihilators, staring ahead, and wondered what it was that the adult standing up front really thought about the 20+ pairs of eyes staring back at her or him. Did they really believe in the B.S. they were feeding us? I remember thinking that I liked to read but this jargon, put before me and all the others, this was the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition, (thanks Mom for the horrifying images and potential punishments I may fall victim too, you're a good Catholic, or were) and how were we going to make any sense of this? From my foggy memory I can still say with certainty that most of it was rote memorization. Facts, dates, preset themes to be regurgitated. There were the occasional moments of pairing up but I do not recall them ever being very useful or enlightening, in fact they seemed more like paused time so the teacher(s) could take a break. I went to college as a psych major, and only due to the ironic insanity of the psych professors and the phenomenal and inclusive practices in thought and deep understanding of my Lit professors did I change and become enamoured with Literature and all that it could be. Armed with some of the techniques they instilled in me and now considering the methods put forth in both the Bushman and Nilsen chapters I feel especially invigorated. I love the idea of expanding the mind. Of invigorating the young to see Lit and Literacy as not a burden, what I often experienced, but more of an exploration. I love the idea of thematic units and feel a great desire to pushback against the rigid framing of school years at the secondary level, i.e. Amer lit, Brit lit. Sure I can work in those frameworks but so much more perspective can be garnered for students it all could be cross referenced year to year, scaffolding up the required skills and objectives. The world is not neatly divided up into A, B and C but rather a collective hodgepodge. I especially like the Bushman suggestion of creating a whole content unit where multiple disciplines work together to integrate the content together.
On a side note, though I don't remember a good deal of specifics about my time in high school as a student, aside from a few highlights, I am being pulled back into that general feeling of malaise as I observe the classes in High School this semester. I feel the distance of the students. My only hope is that during the spring I can apply some of the more invigorating practices I am learning about and find essential to making Literacy not the burden of life but the awakening of self.
9/21
Reader Response
Graphic Organizer
9/27
It is difficult for me to remember back to what writing activities I was tasked to perform in grade school, but I do remember enough to say that little to none of the approaches in Bushman Ch 4 were used. What does stand out are book reports, where we were just regurgitating information for the sake of proving we had read the book and research papers. Hands on full immersion was not a thing in my school. That said, I distinctly remember a student teacher taking over my 10th grade English class and that she practiced some level of reader response with the story Grendel, by John Gardner. She also applied different strategies/styles of writing for assignments. One was a poem and the other a short story. It must say something that I remember this class but all the rest are a blur.
I like the ideas presented in Bushman Ch. 4 in regards to the more reading a student does with opportunity to respond the more their writing will improve. I'd like to work with the journal ideas as a response strategy but must admit I'm fearful in applying it effectively. How can I be sure that the students are following and administering to the task at hand without constantly collecting journals and slogging through one to two hundred entries. I'd also push back slightly on the whole novel then review approach. I'd rather engage with the students as they move through the reading. See where they are in the reading, what their takeaways are at different points and how they view the novel in light of unit objectives.
Rationale Draft: Rationale Draft Work
10/18
Prior to reading in Beers' chapter 8 I was fearful of the challenge of teaching ELL's. This fear was not rooted in a bias toward these children but my own insecurity in finding ways of connecting of feeling unprepared to take on this great responsibility. I was fearful of failing these children. After the reading I now find I have a way in to teaching ELL's. Aguilar, Fu, and Jago, present a number of great inclusive techniques to address ELL's as human beings first and students second. Getting to know your students, where they are from and how they view their experience of learning is tantamount. Giving them the comfort and support through allowing them to learn in their language while acquiring the skills they need to be better English language users is something I did not consider before reading this chapter. If they can understand the content intrinsically they have a leg up in transferring that knowledge to a new language. Another idea that struck me is the linguistic habits of any native speaker in any language that have been so ingrained they are unconscious. We should encourage ELL's to engage in trial and error in speaking and writing in English as a positive activity. It behooves us as teachers to take some time to understand some of the language rules or nuances of our ELL's. This process will better equip us with an understanding of the thought process of ELL students how language is shaped and delivered in their native tongue.
11/1 Chapter 10 Beers
It is not about the world we know as educators and adults, so much as it is about the world that our students know, and the inevitable new world which will great them as they reach adulthood. Considering Burke's text, I realize, more and more, that to stay relevant, and to keep students relevant, requires a deeper level of thinking about the whole picture scenario and what is coming down the technology, communication pike. Further, as educators it is incumbent upon us to embrace the instruction of interpersonal skills which our students will need in order to not just survive but thrive in the 21st century. Our students have been raised in a new world. A world in which they will be required in some capacity to deal with people of varying cultures and literacies with differing ideas and our students will need the knowledge base, the skillsets, to work within these ever transforming environments. Despite the oft heard, or shouted, proclamations of division, found daily on TV and or the web, among other places, the world is increasingly growing interconnected. In order for our students to get that leg up I see Friedman's Eight roles, and Burke's means of developing them, as the aha moment of our time, and we, as educators, too need to embrace this realistic future that is already here or we too will become obsolete. On one side note. I find the storyteller as explainer as maybe the most powerful of all the roles. The idea of the storyteller is the one of the eight that stretches back to the beginning of our sense of being and will progress through the future and to then end of our being. Bold statement, I'm aware, but it is, and has been storytelling that has always shaped our understanding of the world in which we live. Today we need more bold and honest storytellers, willing to tackle the complex and often distorted sense of ourselves within society. To pushback against weavers of distraction and deceit.
11/2 Exploding the page, Hundley & Holbrook
Hundley & Holbrook's chapter dives into the transformational landscapes of literacy that confronts ELA learners as well as teachers in the 21st century. For the authors, literacy is no longer simply ideas composed and framed on paper and bound between two covers, what they describe as the Gutenberg parenthesis era, but rather a multi-media experience of immersion that exits on multiple platforms that moves upwards and backwards between the platforms. Hundley and Holbrook describe this new approach, championed by young adults, as "blurring and bending" (253). The idea is that story has returned to its pre-printing press era form. Story is transforming back to a shared and adaptable experience where ownership is not exclusive to the author, and where cultural experiences can reshape works. The authors explain the various forms of this shaping of story in the 21st century as Multimedia - one story, many forms, one channel; Crossmedia - one story, many channels; and Transmedia - one storyworld, many stories many forms, many channels(258). The definitions blend at times, but the idea is that a story may begin in a book and move to an interactive internet search or app, then to a youtube video. Or, as in the example of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, the text began as a youtube video that encouraged interaction via social media. After much fanfare and excitement the platform became a novel and is now on its way to film(267-68). So, from video to social media, to print, i.e. book, to film, Sunshine girl bent the rules of a work of literature in its approach and interaction with its audience, or dare I say readers. There are many instances of games to books to films among many other instances of movement between inception and form. Considering the increase in the Young Adult audience of video games, YA authors have begun to adapt their works to reflect the literacies evident in gaming worlds. These authors have adopted an folded into their works the language of of video games as well as themes often evident in the virtual world. Another way they've stepped into this new world is in how they tell and frame their story. Often these novels will begin on the page, then prompt a jump to a virtual plane of the web, where the story continues, giving their audience deeper context and an interactivity not necessarily available to just readers of the printed text. Finally, there are growing numbers of fan-fiction sites, where readers may become part of the world they embrace. This interactivity blends the line between author and audience. A different type of immersion but more akin to the idea of the campfire story, where one teller builds upon the ideas of the other members of the circle.
Reflection.
I find these new platforms and opportunities to interact with literacy fascinating and positive factors in how we can transform and approach literacy engagement but I must laugh, because in some ways I do not find them at all new. Let me clarify. They are new in their packaging, the contextual landscape in how they are applied is new, but the are not new in their actual content or approach. For example, my friends and I, huge Pink Floyd fans, once embarked upon a creative endeavor, where we rewrote the lyrics to numerous albums, keeping the ideas in mind, but made the songs more akin to our own experiences. We also wrote sequels to albums. A form of fan fiction if you will. Now, our audience was not so wide, but the element was there. Also the idea of immersion and controlling the story, I already mentioned the campfire tradition, but there have been the Choose your own Adventure books. Or games, was not D&D a full immersion role playing game that became a serious of books to explore deeper.
I also would like to add my belief that we are often, in America, so obsessed with the new, that we scrub away the past our history, so important to getting us to this point, to the detriment of our culture and survival. In many other place in the world, though not all, they respect, preserve, and honor their past. Their history is part of a intrinsic national pride rather than cheap bumper sticker slogans. I too believe the authors oversimplified the importance of the page. Sure, Gutenberg's press made books more and more available over time but it didn't usher in the written page. It didn't steal the story from the oral tradition. Humanity has written and preserved its important ideas for almost as long as it has walked on two legs. The press just gave us a democratic means of accessing the information. That said, I do not think nor condone writing the obituary for the book, for there is something to be said for being able to analyze, synthesize and evaluate something that requires a deep immersion into a page and a mind.
11/14 Chapter 15 Beers
I do not remember there being any inquiry based units or lessons when I attended school. That said, we did have choice for research projects and were allowed to construct our own research focus. This was probably the closest I ever came to what Wilhelm and Smith describe as inquiry. Outside of the classroom, my friends and I would construct our own inquiry based projects that involved multi-media stories through music, poetry, story generation and art. These projects incorporated researched, real world events from newspapers, zines and documentaries as well as first hand reporting and immersion.
Takeaways.
I like the idea that Wilhelm and Smith propose about designing a unity around the essential question rather than the subscribed text.
Flow is a great noun/verb mashup. It brings this vivid idea to mind of getting lost in the moment.
I am not totally convinced about the position taken in the chapter and in many other readings this semester that reading difficult texts is for the birds. The chapter seems to almost diminish the importance that a complex text serves in understanding the human condition, and how through such texts we might learn to be better humans. How we learn to see those nuances of life. I understand that inquiry can lead a student to explore these types of behaviors and structures but is not something lost? To skip over The idea of colonialism and madness found in Heart of Darkness in lieu of a perhaps fine piece of investigative journalism seems a sad reality. Its the art and the craft that often drives home the meaning. But I digress.
I do like the framework and will look for ways to incorporate a more inquiry based structure to my classroom, but I will still anchor some important texts.
12/7 Final Takeaways Christenbury & Atwel
As I close this book, knowing I will return to it pages again and again, as I move into teaching, as well as what I have learned over these past few months, is that teaching is a journey. It is fluid endeavor that exists in both in real time and at the cusp of a shifting, growing thought. Christenbury, solidified this idea and reality, "becoming a teacher is a lifetime's work" (P.289) and that there is no set system or archetype teacher, but rather the dedication of a human to professional and intuitive instruction, that is encouraging and willing to overlook mistakes in the face of progress. As I face my future in education I am encouraged by these two voices and all the others i've had the honor of encountering, here and throughout life, Virgil's walking with us through every level of student/teacher experiences. Pointing out the landscape but allowing us, as I hope to encourage my students, to find the meaning, engage with their own constructions, and continue the endless journey.